Who was the agent of the British?

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is accused of being a British agent because he declared that fighting the British rule in India was not Jihad, as defined by Islam. The reason he gave for this was that the British allowed every religion freedom of worship and preaching and Jihad is only allowed where these are prohibited by a ruler.

One further reason he gave was that Jihad can only be declared by a Muslim ruler or government. So let us see what Muslim rulers were doing while the British destroyed the Mughal rule over India.

One way in which the British show their friendship to a foreign monarch is by bestowing upon them the ‘Order of Garter’. So what is the ‘Order of Garter’? Wikipedia describes it as;

The Noble Order of the Garter, which was founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry and the most prestigious honour in England and of the United Kingdom, and is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England’s patron saint. It is awarded at the Sovereign’s pleasure as her personal gift, on recipients from the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Membership of this order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four members, or Companions. The order also includes supernumerary knights and ladies (e.g., members of the British Royal Family and foreign monarchs).

In the museum of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul in Turkey you will be surprised to find an ‘Order of Garter’ proudly on display. You will be even more surprised to learn that this was awarded to Sultan Abduhameed by Queen Victoria in 1856. This is confirmed by Wikipedia;

The first non-Christian ruler to be admitted to the Order was Abdülmecid I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in 1856 as a Stranger Knight.

At the time that the British were destroying Sunni Muslim rule over India the so called Khalifa of Islam to whom the Mughal rulers also owed allegiance was being given a medal of friendship by the very people who were destroying the Muslim rule in India.

For those who know little of the history of India let us remind them of the so called Indian Mutiny in 1857! When at the end of World War I Kamal Attaturk abolished it, this was the khilafat the Indian Muslims fought to preserve!

People might object and say that Turkey although a khilafat was too far away to help Muslims in India. That may be so but they didn’t have to get medals of friendship from those who destroyed the Muslim rule of India. Iran is next door to India. If we read on we find the following in Wikipedia:

The first member of the Order admitted from Asia was Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, monarch of Persia, created a Stranger Knight in 1873. His immediate successor was also admitted to the Order in 1903 . . .

Remember the Most Noble Order of the Garter is the highest order of chivalry and the most prestigious honour in England and of the United Kingdom, and is dedicated to the image and arms of St. George as England’s patron saint.